Revision as of 00:40, 14 June 2010

This page is up-to-date to MythTV version 0.23, the current release is 29.0

Note: Most of the video menus have been included in this guide, but many of the others have not.

The frontend process is responsible for anything that requires interaction such as Watching Recorded Programs or Watching TV. It provides the GUI you use on your TV or monitor as well as the LIRC, keyboard, or other input handling for Frontend Navigation.

You may also find it useful to read about MFD/MFE the Myth Frontend Daemon

The frontend can be configured by going to the 'Utilities and Setup' menu of the frontend. The following sections describe the available configuration options.

Music Tools

Edit Keys

Setup

General

Database Configuration 1/2

The hostname or IP address of the machine hosting the database. This information is required.

If you are running a single combined backend and frontend, then leave this at its default value of 127.0.0.1. This is often referred to as the local loopback IP address. If you have multiple frontends connecting to this backend then you will need to set this address to the same address as the real IP address eg 192.168.2.11 as it appears on your network. If you have a DNS Server running on your network you can just put the hostname eg "MythBackend". Your DNS Server will translate this to its real IP address.

Database

mythconverg

The name of the database. This information is required.

This is the name of the database the MythTV backend uses to store information. Normally you should not need to change this. However, you may choose to have different databases for different reasons, for example, a test database so you can check out configurations, and then put this back to mythconverg later, or a different database depending on user so each user can set an independent look and feel.

User

mythtv

The user name to use while connecting to the database. This information is required.

You should not have to change this from its default.

Password

mythtv

The password to use while connecting to the database. This information is required.

Change this to suit your system.

Database type

MySql

The database implementation used for your server.

MySql is an Opensource database used by MythTV to hold all of its internal information.

Database Configuration 2/2

Database Configuration 2/2

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Custom Identifier for Frontend Preference

Unchecked

If this frontend's hostname changes often, check this box and provide a network-unique name to identify it. If unchecked, the frontend machine's local hostname will be used to save preferences in the database.

This is the meat of the subject

Enable Database Server Wakeup

Unchecked

If checked, the frontend will use database wakeup parameters to reconnect to the database server (Mythbackend)

Database Server Wakeup is an ACPI option that allows your machine to power up based on activity on the network. You need to make sure that your machine supports ACPI correctly for this to work. You can use this to remotely activate your machine (for instance when you are at work).

(The following additional options are only displayed if this option is checked.)

Reconnect time

0

The time in seconds to wait for the server to wake up.

Retry attempts

1

The number of retries to wake the server before the frontend gives up.

Wake command

(blank)

The command executed on this frontend to wake up the database server (eg. sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart)

Settings Access

Settings Access

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Require Setup PIN

Unchecked

If set, you will not be able to return to this screen and reset the Setup PIN without first entering the current PIN.

MythTV setup can be locked so that you don't have tampering fingers change things while you are out. This tells the system that a PIN will be required to access the configuration screen.

Setup Pin Code

blank

This PIN is used to control access to the setup menus. If you want to use this feature, then setting the value to all numbers will make your life much easier. Set it to blank to disable.

Tell the system what the security PIN is here. Don't forget to write it down somewhere so you don't forget. Or back up your database before you set the PIN so you can restore in case you forget.

Audio System

Audio System

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Audio output device

ALSA:default

Blank

This is the sound card that you want to use.

To specify an ALSA device, use the format ALSA:device (where device is a valid ALSA device such as spdif; iec958; default; hw::0,0; plughw:0,0; etc.). For example, ALSA:spdif.
You can find out which ALSA devices you have available, with the command

aplay -l

To enable JACK output, use the format JACK:

Speakers configuraion

Stereo

Set your audio configuration: Stereo or Surround.

Advanced Audio Configuration(checkbox)

unchecked

Enable extra audio settings.

The following additional options are only displayed if this option is checked.

Override SRC quality(checkbox)

unchecked

Override audio sample rate conversion quality.

Aggressive Sound card Buffering(checkbox)

unchecked

If enabled, MythTV will pretend to have a smaller sound card buffer than is really present. Should be unchecked in most cases. Enable only if you have playback issues.

Audio Mixer

Audio Mixer

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Use Internal Volume Controls

On

MythTV can control the PCM and master mixer volume. If you prefer to control the volume externally (like your amplifier) or use an external mixer program, disable this option.

Disabling this option may lighten the CPU load if the sound device has no hardware mixer. You may also want to disable this if you are using AC3 output as volume control will be done by your surround amplifier or receiver.

Mixer Device

/dev/mixer

Setting the mixer device to "software" lets MythTV control the volume of all audio at the expense of a slight quality loss.

Your system will have a Mixer device that combines multiple channels of audio input and controls the volume independently on each of these. There will also be a master volume that controls the output of all the inputs at the same time.

If you choose an ALSA device for output, you must also specify an alsa mixer name, for example ALSA:default.

Mixer Controls

PCM

Changing the volume adjusts the selected mixer.

Options are: PCM, Master, or any other named mixer control.

Master mixer volume 0-100 (selects volume level)

70

Initial volume for the Master Mixer. This affects all sound created by the sound card. Note: Do not set this too low.

This will control the overall sound level output from your sound card.

PCM mixer volume 0-100 (selects volume level)

70

Initial volume for PCM output. Using the volume keys in MythTV will adjust this parameter.

The Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) input is where MythTV will send the audio from your TV Card. This sets the initial volume level for this.

Independent muting of left and right audio channels

Off

Enable muting of just the left or right channel. Useful if your broadcaster puts the original language on one channel, and a dubbed version of the program on the other one. This modifies the behavior of the Mute key.

Broadcasters in Europe often will use the left and right channels to send simultaneous language audio on the same transmission. You will often see this on Eurosport for instance, where German and English are sent at the same time. Muting one or the other channel will select the language you want to hear.

General (page 6)

General (page 6)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Use Arrow Key Accelerators

On

If enabled, Arrow key accelerators will be used with LEFT performing an exit action and RIGHT selecting the current item.

An intuitive way of navigating through the MythTV menus. Right is considered enter while left is considered exit or back. Much like navigating through a menu tree.

Screen Shot Path

/tmp/

Path to screenshot storage location. Should be writable by the frontend.

Media Monitor

Media Monitor

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Monitor CD/DVD(checkbox)

Unchecked

This enables support for monitoring your CD/DVD drives for new disks and launching the proper plugin to handle them.

You can set the system up to auto launch DVD or CD playback on insertion. Many new distributions as of 2006 will have this feature.

(The following options are only displayed when this option is checked.)

Use new media(checkbox)

Unchecked

This will cause MythTV to jump, to an appropriate plugin, when new media is inserted.

Ignore Devices

(blank)

If there are any devices that you do not want to be monitored, list them here with commas in-between. The plugins will ignore them.

Program Exit

Program Exit

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

System Exit Key

ESC (Escape)

MythTV is designed to run continuously. If you wish, you may use the ESC key or the ESC key + a modifier to exit MythTV. Do not choose a key combination that will be intercepted by your window manager.

Possible values are:

ESC

No exit key

Control-ESC

Meta-ESC

Alt-ESC

Confirm Exit (Checkbox)

On

When enabled, MythTV will prompt for confirmation when you press the System Exit key.

If enabled, MythTV will ask you whether you really want to exit the frontend if you press the system exit key at the main menu.

Customise exit menu options

Autodetect

By default, only remote frontends are shown the shutdown option on the exit menu. Here you can force specific shutdown and reboot options to be displayed.

Choices are:

Autodetect

Show Quit

Show quit and shutdown

Show quit, reboot and shutdown

Show shutdown

Show reboot

Show reboot and shutdown

Remote Control

Remote Control

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

LIRC Daemon Socket

/dev/lircd

UNIX socket or IP address[:port] to connect in order to communicate with the LIRC Daemon.

LIRC Keypress Application

blank

External application or script to run when a keypress is received by LIRC.

Enable Network Remote Control interface

Off

This enables support for controlling mythfrontend over the network.

Network Remote Control Port

6546

This specifies what port the Network Remote Control interface will listen on for new connections.

This selects what Myth uses to draw. If you have decent hardware, select OpenGL.

The frontend interface can be drawn using OpenGL if you have a powerful enough video card. This allows for additional visual effects. Do not change this if you have integrated video or are using PVR-350 S-video out.

Menu theme

Default

(none)

This gives you two choices on how the menus are laid out in the MythTV user interface. The content of the two choices is the same, but the terminology (ex. "Optical Disks" vs. "DVD") and organization of the menus is different.

This document is based on the "Default" setting.

Screen settings

Screen Settings

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

GUI width (px)

0

The width of the GUI. DO not make the GUI wider than your actual screen resolution. Set to 0 to automatically scale to fullscreen.

Width in pixels of window that myth uses.

A normal TV (without MythTV) has a 5%-10% overscan. In other words, 5%-10% of the image is past the visible edges of the screen. If you adjust your MythTV box's output to overscan your display device, and uncheck "Use GUI size for TV playback" (below), you can use this and the following 3 GUI size and position settings to shrink the GUI so that the GUI is not overscanned (and you can see all of it).

GUI height (px)

0

The height of the GUI. DO not make the GUI taller than your actual screen resolution. Set to 0 to automatically scale to fullscreen.

see Gui width(px)

GUI X offset

0

The horizontal offset the GUI will be displayed at. May only work if run in a window.

see Gui width(px)

GUI Y offset

0

The vertical offset the GUI will be displayed at.

see Gui width(px)

Use GUI size for TV playback(checkbox)

Checked

If enabled, use the above size for TV, otherwise use full screen.

see Gui width(px)

Hide Mouse Cursor in MythTV(checkbox)

Checked

Toggles mouse cursor visibility. Most of the Myth GUI does not respond to mouse clicks. Use this option to avoid "losing" your mouse cursor.

Use window border(checkbox)

Unchecked

Toggles between windowed and border-less operation.

Use fixed window size(checkbox)

Checked

When disabled the video playback window can be resized.

Video Mode Settings

Video Mode Settings

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Separate video modes for GUI and TV playback(checkbox)

Unchecked

Switch X Window video modes for TV. Requires "xrandr" support.

The following additional options are only displayed if this box is checked.

GUI

640x480

Resolution of screen when not watching a video.

Video Output

640x480

Default screen resolution when watching a video.

Rate

Any

Default refresh rate when watching a video. Leave at "Any" to automatically use the best available.

Aspect

Default

Aspect ratio when watching a video. Leave at "Default" to use ratio reported by the monitor. Set to 16:9 or 4:3 to forca a specific aspect ratio.

In X

0

Horizontal resolution of video which needs a special output resolution.

In Y

0

Vertical resolution of video which needs a special output resolution.

Output

640x480

Screen resolution when watching a video at a specific resolution.

Rate

Any

Refresh rate when watching a video at a specific resolution. Leave at "Any" to automatically use the best available.

Aspect

Default

Aspect ratio when watching a video at a specific resolution. Leave at "Default" to use ratio reported by the monitor. Set to 16:9 or 4:3 to forca a specific aspect ratio.

Localization

Localization

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Language

English

Your preferred language.

Choices are:

English

Italiano

Catala

Espanol

Nederlands

Francais

Deutsch

Dansk

Svenska

Portugues

Nihongo

Slovenski

Suomi

Hanzi (Traditional)

Guide Language #1

English

Your #1 preferred language for Program Guide Data and captions.

Guide Language #2

English

Your #2 preferred language for Program Guide Data and captions.

Date format

Sat Jan 31

Your preferred date format.

Choices are:

Sat Jan 31

Sat January 31

Jan 31

01/31

01.31

Sat 31 Jan

31.01.2004

2004-01-31

Short Date format

1/31

Your preferred short date format.

Choices are:

1/31

31/1

01/31

31/01

01.31

31.1.

31.01.

01-31

Sat 31

31 Sat

Sat 1/31

1/31 Sat

Time format

6:56 AM

Your preferred time format. You must choose a format with "AM" or "PM" in it, otherwise your time display will be 24-hour or "military" time.

Choices are:

6:56 AM

6:56 am

06:56 AM

06:56 am

6:56

06:56

QT

QT

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

"Small" font

12

Default size is 12.

"Medium" font

16

Default size is 16

"Big" font

25

Default size is 25.

Fine tune font size (%)

0

Fine tune all font sizes by this percentage. Font sizes should be the correct relative size if the X11 DPI (dots per inch) is set to 100.

Use Transparent Boxes(checkbox)

Checked

If enabled, the Watch Recording and Delete Recording screens will use transparency. Disable if selecting the recordings is slow due to high CPU usage.

Popup Background Shading Method

Fill

"Fill" is the quickest shading method. "Image" is somewhat slow, but has a higher visual quality. No shading will be the fastest.

Use line edit virtual keyboards

Checked

Allows you to use a virtual keyboard in Myth line edit boxes. To use, hit OK/Select while a line edit is in focus. (This only works if your OK/Select is set to send a Return rather than a space)

This feature allows you to use your remote with an on screen keyboard to fill out text boxes. This allows you to operate MythTV without a keyboard.

LCD device display

LCD device display

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Enable LCD device(checkbox)

Unchecked

Use an LCD display to view MythTV status information. Need to restart mythfrontend to (de)activate it.

The following additional configuration items appear only when this box is checked.

Enter the 6 Keypad Return Codes for your LCD keypad in the order in which you want the functions up/down/left/right/yes/no to operate.

Menu Pop-up Time

5

The time (in seconds) that the menu will remain visible after navigation.

Screen Setup Wizards

(Setup->Screen Setup Wizards)

Follow the on screen directions to adjust the size and position of your GUI display.

TV Settings

General

General (Basic)

General (Basic)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Channel Ordering

channel number

(blank)

Possible values are:

channel number

callsign

Channel Format

number callsign

Your preferred channel format.

Possible values are:

number callsign

number name

callsign

name

number

Long Channel Format

number name

Your preferred long channel format.

Possible values are:

number name

callsign

name

number

number callsign

number name

Change channels immediately without select(checkbox)

Unchecked

When a complete channel number is entered MythTV will switch to that channel immediately without requiring you to hit the select button.

Avoid conflicts between live TV and scheduled shows(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, live TV will choose a tuner card that is less likely to have scheduled recordings rather than the best card available.

Allow live TV to move scheduled shows(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, scheduled recordings will be moved to the other cards (where possible), so that live TV will not be interrupted.

General (AutoExpire)

General (AutoExpire)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Auto Expire Method

Oldest Show First

Method used to determine which recorded shows to delete first. LiveTV recordings will always expire before normal recordings.

Possible values:

Lowest Priority First

Weighted Time/Priority Combination

Oldest Show First

Auto-Expire Default(checkbox)

Checked

When enabled, any new recording schedules will be marked as eligible for Auto-Expiration. Existing schedules will keep their current value.

Re-record Watched(checkbox)

Checked

If set, programs that have been marked as watched and are auto-expired will be re-recorded if they are shown again.

Watched before UNwatched(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, programs that have been marked as watched will be expired before programs that have not been watched.

LiveTV Max Age

1

Auto-Expire will force expiration of LiveTV recordings when they are this many days old. LiveTV recordings may also be expired early if necessary to free up disk space.

Priority Weight

3

The number of days bonus a program gets for each priority point. This is only used when the Weighted Time/Priority Auto-Expire Method is selected.

Extra Disk Space

1

Extra disk space (in Gigabytes) that you want to keep free on the recording file systems beyond what MythTV requires.

Auto Expire Instead of Delete Recording(checkbox)

Unchecked

Instead of deleting a recording, move recording to the "Deleted" recgroup and turn on autoexpire.

(The following items are only displayed if this box is checked.)

Expire in deleted order(checkbox)

Unchecked

Expire Deleted recordings in the order which they were originally deleted.

Deleted Max Age

0

When set to a number greater than zero, AutoExpire will force expiration of Deleted recordings when they are this many days old.

General (Jobs)

General (Jobs)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Commercial Flagging Method

All Available Methods

This determines the method used by MythTV to detect when commercials start and end.

Possible values are:

All Available Methods

Blank Frame Detection

Blank Frame + Scene Change Detection

Scene Change Detection

Logo Detection

Experimental: Blank Frame + Logo Detection

Pre & Post Roll: Blank Frame + Scene Change

Strict Commercial Detection(checkbox)

Checked

Enable stricter Commercial Detection code. Disable if some commercials are not being detected.

Default Transcoder

Autodetect

This is the default value used for the transcoder setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

Possible values are:

Autodetect

High Quality

Medium Quality

Low Quality

Deferral days for Auto-Transcode jobs

0

If non-zero, Auto-Transcode jobs will be scheduled to run this many days after a recording completes instead of immediately afterwards.

Run commercial flagger(checkbox)

Checked

This is the default value used for the Auto-Commercial Flagging setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

Run transcoder(checkbox)

Unchecked

This is the default value used for the Auto-Transcode setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

Run User Job #1(checkbox)

Unchecked

This is the default value used for the 'Run User Job#1' setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

Run User Job #2(checkbox)

Unchecked

This is the default value used for the 'Run User Job#2' setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

Run User Job #3(checkbox)

Unchecked

This is the default value used for the 'Run User Job#3' setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

Run User Job #4(checkbox)

Unchecked

This is the default value used for the 'Run User Job#4' setting when a new scheduled recording is created.

General (Advanced)

General (Advanced)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Time to record before start of show (in seconds)

0

This global setting allows the recorder to start before the scheduled start time. It does not affect the scheduler. It is ignored when two shows have been scheduled without enough time in between.

Time to record after end of show (in seconds)

0

This global setting allows the recorder to record beyond the scheduled end time. It does not affect the scheduler. It is ignored when two shows have been scheduled without enough time in between.

Category of shows to be extended

(blank)

For a special category (e.g. "Sports event"), request that shows be autoextended. Only works if a show's category can be determined.

Record past end of show (in minutes)

30

For the specified category, an attempt will be made to extend the recording by the specified time. It is ignored when two shows have been scheduled without enough time in between.

General (Channel Groups)

General (Channel Groups)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Remember last channel group(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, the EPG will initially display only the channels from the last channel group selected. Pressing "4" will toggle channel group.

Default channel group

All Channels

Default channel group to be shown in the EPG. Pressing GUIDE key will toggle channel group.

Possible values are:

All Channels

Favorites

Browse/Change channels from Channel Group(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, LiveTV will browse or change channels from the selected channel group. "All Channels" channel group may be selected to browse all channels.

Program Guide

Program Guide 1/2

Program Guide 1/2

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Display Genre Colors(checkox)

Checked

Colorize program guide using genre colors. (Not available for all grabbers.)

Display the channel icons(checkbox)

Checked

Display the icons/logos for the channels in the guide. See section 9.5 of the Installation Guide for how to grab icons.

Show the program guide when starting Live TV(checkbox)

Unchecked

This starts the program guide immediately upon starting to watch Live TV.

Program Guide 2/2

Program Guide 2/2

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

What to call 'unknown' programs

Unknown

(none)

What category to give 'unknown' programs

Unknown

(none)

Guide starts at channel

3

The program guide starts on this channel if it is started from outside of Live TV mode.

Record Threshold

16

Pressing Select on a show that is at least this many minutes into the future will schedule a recording.

Allow channel jumping in guide(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, you will be able to press numbers and jump the selection to whatever channel you enter.

Playback

General Playback (1/8)

General Playback (1/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Enable realtime priority threads(checkbox)

Checked

When running mythfrontend with root privileges, some threads can be given enhanced priority. Disable this if mythfrontend freezes during video playback.

Realtime requires special privileges - either running as root, suid binary, permissions from limits.conf, or the realtime kernel module. (suid binary seems broken in 0.20). See the realtime thread information in the HOWTO for more details.

Extra audio buffering(checkbox)

Checked

Enable this setting if MythTV is playing "crackly" audio and you are using hardware encoding. This setting affects digital tuners (QAM/DVB/ATSC) and hardware encoders. It will have no effect on MPEG-4 or RTjpeg video. MythTV will keep extra audio data in its internal buffers to work around this bug.

Jump to Program OSD(checkbox)

Checked

Set the choice between viewing the current recording group in the OSD, or showing the "Watch Recording" screen when "Jump to Program" is activated. If set, the recordings are shown in the OSD.

Clear bookmark on playback(checkbox)

Checked

Automatically clear the bookmark on a recording when the recording is played back. If disabled, you can mark the beginning with rewind then save position.

Alternate clear and save bookmark(checkbox)

Checked

During playback the Select key (Enter or Space) will alternate between "Bookmark Saved" and "Bookmark Cleared". If disabled, the Select key will save the current position for each keypress.

Automatically mark a recording(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, when you exit near the end of a recording it will be marked as watched. The automatic detection is not foolproof, so do not enable this setting if you don't want an unwatched recording to be marked for expiration.

Continue Playback When Embedded(checkbox)

Unchecked

This option continues TV playback when the TV window is embedded in the upcoming program list or recorded list. The default is to pause the recorded show when embedded.

Live TV idle timeout

0

Exit LiveTV automatically if left idle for the specified number of minutes. 0 disables the timeout.

Always stream recordings from the backend(checkbox)

Unchecked

Enable this setting if you want MythTV to always stream files from a remote backend instead of directly reading a recording file if it is accessible locally.

Enable OpenGL vertical sync for timing(checkbox)

Unchecked

If it is supported by your hardware/drivers, MythTV will use OpenGL vertical syncing for video timing, reducing frame jitter.

Enable picture controls(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, MythTV attempts to initialize picture controls (brightness, contrast, etc.) that are applied during playback.

General Playback (2/8)

General Playback (2/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Vertical scaling

0

Adjust this if the image does not fill your screen vertically. Range -100% to 100%.

Scan displacement (y)

0

Adjust this to move the image vertically.

Horizontal scaling

0

Adjust this if the image does not fill your screen horizontally. Range -100% to 100%.

Scan displacement (x)

0

Adjust this to move the image horizontally.

Video Aspect Override

Off

When enabled, these will override the aspect ratio specified by any broadcaster for all video streams

Possible values are:

Off

4:3

16:9

14:9

2.35:1

Zoom

Auto Detect (Default )

When enabled, these will apply a predefined zoom to all video playback in MythTV.

Possible values are:

Off

Half

Full

H.Stretch

V.Stretch

Auto Detect (Default C)

Auto Detect (Default Horizontal)

Letterboxing Color

Black

By default MythTV uses black letterboxing to match broadcaster letterboxing, but those with plasma screens may prefer gray to minimize burn-in. Currently only works with XVideo video cards.

Possible values are:

Black

Gray

PIP Video Location

Top Left

Location of PIP Video Window

PIP=Picture In Picture

Possible values are:

Top Left

Bottom Left

Top Right

Bottom Right

Action on playback exit

Just exit

If set to prompt, a menu will be displayed when you exit playback mode. The options available will allow you to save your position, delete the recording, or continue watching.

Possible values are:

Just exit

Save position and exit

Always prompt

Prompt at end of recording(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, a menu will be displayed allowing you to delete the recording when it has finished playing.

Playback Profiles (3/8)

Playback Profiles (3/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Current Video Playback Profile

CPU+

(none)

Selection of any of the possible profiles, will display a list of the rules associated with that profile.

Possible values are:

CPU+

CPU++

CPU--

High Quality

Normal

Slim

VDPAU High Quality

VDPAU Normal

VDPAU Slim

Add New

(none)

Add a new profile to the list.

Delete

(none)

Delete the current profile from the list

Add New Entry

(none)

Create a new rule for the current profile.

View Recordings (4/8)

View Recordings (4/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Episode sort orderings

Sort all sub-titles/multi-titles Descending

Selects how to sort show episodes. Sub-titles refers to the episodes listed under a specific show title. Multi-title refers to sections (e.g. "All Programs") which list multiple titles.

Possible values are:

Sort all sub-titles/multi-titles Descending

Sort sub-titles Descending, multi-titles Ascending

Sort sub-titles Ascending, multi-titles Descending

Sort all sub-titles/multi-titles Ascending

Sort Episodes

Record date

Selects how to sort a shows episodes.

Record date

Original Air date

Program ID

Generate preview image remotely(checkbox)

Unchecked

If you have a very slow frontend you can enable this to always have a backend server generate preview images.

Time offset for thumbnail preview images

64

MythTV will use this offset to make a thumbnail image this many seconds from the beginning of the recording, unless this offset happens to be between cutpoints or inside a flagged advertisement.

Display live preview of recordings(checkbox)

Checked

When enabled, a preview of the recording will play in a small window on the "Watch a Recording" menu.

Use HW Acceleration for live recording preview

Unchecked

Use HW acceleration for the live recording preview. Video renderer used is determined by the CPU profiles. Disable if playback is sluggish or causes high CPU

Start in group list

Checked

If enables, the focus will start on the group list, otherwise the focus will default to the recordings.

Recording Groups (5/8)

Recording Groups(5/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Password required to view all recordings

(empty)

If given, a password must be entered to view the complete list of all recordings.

Default group filter to apply

All Programs

Default group filter to apply on the View Recordings screen.

Possible values are:

All Programs

Default

House/garden

Always prompt for initial group filter(checkbox)

Unchecked

Always prompt the user for the initial filter to apply when entering the Watch Recordings screen.

Save current goup filter when changed(checkbox)

Checked

Remember the last selected filter instead of displaying the default filter whenever you enter the playback screen.

Show filter name instead of "All Programs"(checkbox)

Unchecked

Use the name of the display filter currently applied in place of the term "All Programs" in the playback screen.

View Recordings (6/8)

View Recordings (6/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Sort Titles

Alphabetically

Sets the Title sorting order when the view is set to Titles only.

Possible values are:

Alphabetically

By Recording Priority

Include the "Watch List" group(checkbox)

Checked

The "Watch List" is an abbreviated list of recordings sorted to highlight series and shows that need attention in order to keep up to date.

The following menu items are only displayed when this box is checked.

Start from the Watch List view(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, the "Watch List" will be the initial view each time you enter the Watch Recordings screen.

Exclude recordings not set for Auto-Expire(checkbox)

Unchecked

Set this if you turn off auto-expire only for recordings that you've seen and intend to keep. This option will exclude these recordings from the "Watch List".

Maximum days counted in the score

60

The "Watch List" scores are based on 1 point equals one day since recording. This option limits the maximum score due to age and affect other weighting factors.

Days to exclude weekly episodes after delete

2

When an episode is deleted or marked as watched, other episodes of the series are excluded from the "Watch List" for this interval of time. Daily shows also have a smaller interval based exclude time.

Seeking (7/8)

Seeking (7/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Smart Fast Forwarding(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, then immediately after rewinding, only skip forward the same amount as skipping backwards.

Fast forward/rewind reposition amount

100

When exiting sticky keys fast forward/rewind mode, reposition before resuming normal playback. This compensates for the reaction time between seeing where to resume playback and actually exiting seeking.

Reverse direction in fast forward/rewind(checkbox)

Checked

If enabled, pressing the sticky rewind key in fast forward mode switches to rewind mode and vice versa. If disabled, it will decrease the current speed or switch to play mode if the speed can't be decreased further.

Seek to exact frame(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, seeking is frame exact, but slower.

Commercial Skip (8/8)

Commercial Skip (8/8)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Automatically Skip Commercials

Off

Automatically skip commercial breaks that have been flagged during Automatic Commercial Flagging or by the mythcommflag program, or just notify that a commercial has been detected.

Possible values:

Off

Notify,but do not skip

Automatically skip

Commercial Skip Auto-Rewind Amount

0

If set, MythTV will automatically rewind this many seconds after performing a commercial skip

Commercial Skip Notify Amount

0

If set, MythTV will act like a commercial begins this many seconds early. This can be useful when commercial notification is used in place of automatic skipping.

Maximum commercial skip (in seconds)

3600

MythTV will discourage long manual commercial skips. Skips which are longer than this will require the user to hit the SKIP key twice. Automatic commercial skipping is not affected by this setting.

Merge short commercial breaks (in seconds)

0

Treat consecutive commercial breaks shorter than this as one break when skipping forward. Useful if you have to skip a few times during breaks. Applies to automatic skipping as well. Set to 0 to disable.

Skip blank frames after commercials(checkbox)

Checked

When using Blank Frame Detection and Auto-Flagging, include blank frames following commercial breaks as part of the commercial break.

Playback OSD

On-screen display

On-screen display

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

OSD Theme

BlackCurves-OSD

(none)

Possible values are:

BlackCurves-OSD

Blootube

Blue

Gray

Isthmus

Iulius

Metallurgy (Widescreen)

Mono

ProjectGrayhem

Retro

Titivillus

General OSD time-out (sec)

2

Length of time an on-screen display window will be visible.

Program Info OSD time-out

3

Length of time the on-screen display will display program information.

OSD font

FreeSans.ttf

(none)

Possible values are:

FreeSans.ttf

FreeMono.ttf

Font size

default

default: TV, small: monitor, big:

Possible values are:

default

small

big

Enable Interactive TV(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enables, interactive TV applications (MHEG) will be activated. This is used for teletext and logos for radio and channels that are currently off-air.

Always use Browse mode in LiveTV(checkbox)

Checked

If enabled, Browse mode will automatically be activated whenever you use Channel UP/DOWN while watching Live TV.

Browse all channels(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, browse mode will show channels on all available recording devices, instead of showing channels on just the current recorder.

UDP OSD Notifications

UDP OSD Notifications

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

UDP Notify OSD time-out

5

How many seconds an on-screen display will be active for UDP Notify events.

UDP Notify Port

6948

During playback, MythTV will listen for connections from the "mythtvosd" or "mythudprelay" programs on this port. See the README in contrib/mythnotify/ for additional information.

This can be used to display various information (ex. Caller ID, email notification, etc.) on screen during playback. There's related information on the Setting_up_MythNotify page.

Analog Closed Captions

Analog Closed Captions

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

CC font

FreeMono.ttf

Closed Caption font.

Possible values are:

FreeMono.ttf

FreeSans.ttf

Black background for closed captioning(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, captions will be displayed as white text over a black background for better contrast.

Always display closed captioning or subtitles(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, captions will be displayed when playing back recordings or watching live TV. Closed Captioning can be turned on or off by pressing "T" during playback.

Prefer EIA-708 over EIA-608(checkbox)

Checked

When enabled the new EIA-708 captions will be preferred over the old EIA-608 captions in ATSC streams.

ATSC Caption Settings

ATSC Caption Settings

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Text zoom percentage

100

Use this to enlarge or shrink captions.

Default Caption Font Type

Monospaced serif

This allows you to set which font type to use when the broadcaster does not specify a font.

Possible values are:

Monospaced serif

Proportional serif

Monospaced sans serif

Proportional sans serif

Casual

Cursive

Capitals

ATSC Caption Fonts

ATSC Caption Fonts

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Monospaced Serif

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Monospaced Serif closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

Proportional Serif

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Proportional Serif closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

Monospaced Sans Serif

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Monospaced Sans Serif closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

Proportional Sans Serif

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Proportional Sans Serif closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

Casual

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Casual closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

Cursive

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Cursive closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

Capitals

FreeMono.ttf

ATSC Capitals closed caption font.

Alternate option: FreeSans.ttf

External Subtitle Settings

External Subtitle Settings

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Subtitle Codec

UTF-8

(none)

(many options available)

OSD Menu Editor

This page allows you to change the menu options which are displayed in the various video display modes.

Live TV

Recorded TV

Video

DVD

Playback Groups

Select the appropriate playback group (usually Default) to see the following menu.

Select the (Create new group) to generate a new group.

Press "D" when over an existing group to bring up the "Delete Menu".

Playback Groups

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Title match (regex)

(blank)

Automatically set new recording rules to use this group if the title matches this regular expression. For example, "(News¦CNN)" would match any title in which "News" or "CNN" appears.

Skip ahead (seconds)

30

How many seconds to skip forward on a fast forward.

Press the "Right" key to cause this action.

Skip back (seconds)

5

How many seconds to skip backward on a rewind.

Press the "Left" key to cause this action.

Jump amount (in minutes)

(default)

How many minutes to jump forward or backward when the jump keys are pressed. The "default" value is usually 10 minutes.

Press "Down" to jump forward, and "Up" to jump backward.

Time stretch (speed x 100)

100

Initial playback speed with adjusted audio. Use 100 for normal speed, 50 for half speed and 200 for double speed.

Channel Groups

To create a special grouping of channels, select "(Create new group)", name the new group and continue. The initial page for this group may be blank, so exit back to the "TV Settings" menu, then re-enter the Channel Groups menu. Enter into your new group, and select the channels that you want to use.

Press "D" when over an existing group to bring up the "Delete Menu".

Recording Profiles

Select the appropriate profile group.

Select the appropriate profile to see the following menus.

Profile

Profiles

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Enable auto-transcode after recording(checkbox)

Unchecked

Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding.

Image Size

Image Size

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Width

720

Width to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 720 or 768 for NTSC and PAL, respectively.

Height

480

Height to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 480 or 576 for NTSC and PAL, respectively.

Codec (1)

Codec (1)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Stream Type

(varies)

Sets the type of stream generated by your PVR.

MPEG-2 PS for PVR-x50 cards

Aspect Ratio

(varies)

Set the aspect ratio of stream generated by your PVR.

Possible values are:

4:3

16:9

2.21:1

Square

Avg. Bitrate

4500

Average bit rate in kilobits/second. 2200Kbps is approximately 1 Gigabyte per hour.

Max. Bitrate

6000

Maximum bit rate in kilobits/second. 2200Kbps is approximately 1 Gigabyte per hour.

Codec (2)

Codec (2)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Sampling rate

48000

Sets the audio sampling rate for your DSP. Ensure that you choose a sampling rate appropriate for your device. btaudio may only allow 32000.

If set, whitespace characters in filenames will be replaces with underscore characters.

Script Path

(blank)

If present this script will be executed after a CD Rip is completed.

Automatically eject CDs after ripping(checkbox)

Checked

If set, the CD tray will automatically open after the CD has been ripped.

CD Ripper Settings (part 2)

CD Ripper Settings (part 2)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Encoding

Ogg Vorbis

Audio encoder to use for CD ripping. Note that the quality level 'Perfect' will use the FLAC encoder.

Possible values are:

Ogg Vorbis

Lame (MP3)

Default Rip Quality

Low

Default quality for new CD rips.

Possible values are:

Low

Medium

High

Perfect

Use variable bitrates(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, the MP3 encoder will use variable bitrates (VBR) except for the low quality setting. The Ogg encoder will always use variable bitrates.

Videos Settings

General Settings

General Settings (1/4)

General Settings (1/4)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Directory that holds videos

/var/lib/mythtv/videos

Multiple directories can be separated ':'. Each directory must exist and be readable by the user running MythVideo.

Directory that holds movie trailers

~/.mythtv/MythVideo/Trailers

This directory must exist, and the user running MythVideo needs to have read/write permission to the directory.

Directory that holds movie posters

~/.mythtv/MythVideo/CoverArt

This directory must exist, and the user running MythVideo needs to have read/write permission to this directory.

Directory that holds movie screenshots

~/.mythtv/MythVideo/Screenshots

This directory must exist, and the user running MythVideo needs to have read/write permission to this directory.

Directory that holds movie/TV Banners

~/.mythtv/MythVideo/Banners

This directory must exist, and the user running MythVideo needs to have read/write permission to this directory.

Directory that holds movie fanart

~/.mythtv/MythVideo/Fanart

This directory must exist, and the user running MythVideo needs to have read/write permission to this directory.

General Settings (2/4)

General Settings (2/4)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

On DVD insertion

Display mythdvd menu

Media Monitoring should be turned on to allow this feature (Setup->General->CD/DVD Monitor).

Possible values are:

Display mythdvd menu

Do nothing

Play DVD

Rip DVD

DVD Drive Speed

(varies)

Set DVD Drive Speed during DVD Playback. Speed is in multiples of 177KB/s. Slower speeds may reduce drive noise but in some cases it causes playback to stutter.

Enable DVD Bookmark Support(checkbox)

Unchecked

Enable the setting and skipping to of a bookmark in DVD playback.

(The following menu items only appear if this box is checked.)

DVD Bookmark Prompt(checkbox)

Unchecked

Display a prompt to choose whether to play the DVD from the beginning or from the bookmark.

Remove DVD Bookmarks Older than (days)

10

Delete DVD Bookmarks that are older than the number of days specified.

General Settings (3/4)

General Settings (3/4)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Starting Parental Level

4 - Highest

This is the 'level' that MythVideo starts at. Any videos with a level at or below this will be shown in the list or while browsing by default. The Parental PIN should be set to limit changing of these control values.

Possible values are:

1 - Lowest

2

3

4 - Highest

Parental Level 3 PIN

(blank)

This PIN is used to enter Parental Control Level 3. Setting this value to all numbers will make your life much easier.

Parental Level 2 PIN

(blank)

This PIN is used to enter Parental Control Level 2. Setting this value to all numbers will make your life much easier.

Aggressive Parental Control(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, you will not be able to return to this screen and reset the Parental PIN without first entering the current PIN. You have been warned.

General Settings (4/4)

General Settings (4/4)

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Enable automatic Parental Level from rating(checkbox)

Unchecked

If enabled, searches will automatically set the Parental Level to the one matching the rating below.

(The following menu items only appear if this box is checked.)

Level 1

G

Ratings containing these strings (separated by :) will be assigned to Parental Level 1.

Level 2

PG

Ratings containing these strings (separated by :) will be assigned to Parental Level 2.

Level 3

PG-13

Ratings containing these strings (separated by :) will be assigned to Parental Level 3.

Level 4

R:NC-17

Ratings containing these strings (separated by :) will be assigned to Parental Level 4.

Player Settings

Player Settings

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Default Player

(blank)

This is the command that is used for any file whose extension is not specifically defined. You may also enter the name of one of the playback plugins such as 'Internal'.

Possible values:

mplayer -fs -zoom -quiet -vo xv %s

DVD Player

Internal

This can be any command to launch a DVD player. Internal is the default. For other players, %d will be substituted for the DVD device (e.g. /dev/dvd).

DVD Drive

default

This device must exist, and the user playing the DVD needs to have read permission on the device. 'default' will let the MediaMonitor choose a device.

VCD Player

mplayer vcd:// -cdrom-device %d -fs -zoom -vo xv

This can be any command to launch a VCD player. The Internal player will not play VCDs. %d will be substituted for the VCD device (e.g. /dev/cdrom).

VCD Drive

default

This device must exist, and the user playing the VCD needs to have read permission on the device. 'default' will let the MediaMonitor choose a device.

Enable Alternate Player(checkbox)

Unchecked

(none)

(The following menu item only appears if this box is checked.)

Alternate Player

Internal

If for some reason the default player doesn't play a video, you can play it in an alternate player by selecting 'Play in Alternate Player'.

Metadata Settings

Video Metadata Settings

Setting

Default Value

Settings Page's Description

Additional Comments

Movie Grabber

TheMovieDB APIv2 Query (vo....

This is the script used to search for and download Movie Metadata.

Possible values are:

TheMovieDB APIv2 Query (vo....

KinoX Query (v0.04) by Denys...

Alpacine Query (v1.1) by Alvar...

Allocine Query (v2.05) by Xavie...

TV Grabber

The TVDB.com Query (v1.0.9) b...

This is the script used to search for and download Television Metadata.

Possible values are:

The TVDB.com Query (v1.0.9) b...

Enable Random Trailer Playback(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, this will enable a button called "Watch With Trailers" which will play a user-specified number of trailers before the movie.

Trailers to Play

0

Number of trailers to play before a film.

(This option is only displayed if "Enable Random Trailer Playback" is checked.)

Display unknown file types(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set, all files below the Myth Video directory will be displayed unless their extension is explicitly set to be ignored.

Enable metadata in file browse mode(checkbox)

Unchecked

If set along with Browse Files, this will cause the Video List to load any known video metadata from the database. Turning this off can greatly speed up how long it takes to load the Video List tree.